1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to archery and more specifically to a shooting bow with transitional modules, where a power cable track is at least partially angled to allow a cable to pass above itself, thus a power section of a cable transitions to a control section of a cable as the cam rotates.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Historically, archery bows and crossbows have been used for war, survival, sport, and recreation. A specific component of a compound style shooting bow are the cables. Each cable includes a power end and a control end. The manner in which the cables interact with the cams and limbs of the bow is of particular importance. Typically, the power end of the cable is coupled to the cam on one limb, and the control end of the cable is often coupled to the opposite limb or opposite cam. A very good way to accomplish efficiency is through a binary cam system, wherein the cables are connected to opposing cams, and as one of the cams wraps the cable on the power track, the opposite cam pays out cable from the control track. While all of these methods work to some extent, all have significant issues with performance and/or assembly and cost. One of the main drawbacks to conventional binary cam systems is the inability of the cam system to rotate beyond about 180 to 200 degrees. This restriction requires an ever increasing diameter of the cam as power stroke of the bow increases, which in turn ads to the weight of the cam. As the weight of the cam increases, efficiency decreases.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,910 Darlington shows a cam with an angled or cross-over groove, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,990,970 Darlington shows a binary style cam. Other binary cam designs have been patented as well, but all binary designs have the limitation of minimal rotation, caused by the control end of the cable reaching a point in rotation as to not allow the cam to rotate any further without “locking up”.
The above inventions are trying to keep cables in proper timing, and there is no provision for the payout cable to wrap onto any power-generating track of the cam. By not allowing the cams to rotate more without locking, all prior binary cams have less than desirable limitations The present invention deals with the manner in which the cables are coupled to the cams, a transitional module that allows the control end of a cable to transition into a power generating end of a cable, and how said cables wrap the cable tracks and create power in the bow or crossbow. It appears that the prior art does not disclose string cams that rotate more than 180 degrees.
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art to provide a shooting bow with transitional modules, which allows a power end of first and second cables to be coupled to first and second cams and a control end of the cable to be coupled back to the first and second cams, which in turn allows the cams to rotate as much as 330 degrees.